Amazing August Action On Tap

POSTED Jul 31, 2013
By
Frank Cotolo

It’s time for one of the
biggest weekends of the season in the standardbred racing industry for insiders
and players, for fans and spectators, as the Meadowlands hosts two days of huge
stakes programs featuring some of the greatest pacers and trotters of our time.

TwinSpires bettors have
some great advantages. First, we will be reporting on all of the stakes action
live from the Meadowlands on Friday, Aug. 2 and Saturday, Aug. 3. Tune up now
miss following us on Twitter as well as ingesting our Aug. 1 blog. Be ready for
up-to-the-minute news items, handicapping tips and anything else a bettor needs
to address the two programs with the brunt of your bankroll. Don’t forget to
refuel the funds—now is a good time—so you can be ready for the weekend.

Second, the Hambletonian-day Players’ Pool
is now open. Capped at $10,000, we are going after some of the best prices the
Aug. 3 program will offer, including exotics. Get on the team with a buy-in and
follow all the action, beginning at 11:50 a.m. on TwinSpires, as well as
Twitter.

The Hambletonian elims and
the Hambletonian Oaks are covered on the Hambletonian
Trail at the exclusive blog. The remainder of the programs,
including Friday night action, are analyzed below. Our exclusive harness horses
to watch (H2W) list from tracks around North America will reboot next week.

Merrie Annabelle

The $321,700 Merrie Annabelle Final (frosh-filly trotters)
is set to complete the Daily Double on the Hambo card. Lifetime Dream will look
to keep her win record perfect at four races as she faces her biggest challenge
of her career. Meeting up with her this week is our choice from the eliminations,
which looks the next most impressive in the event. Heaven’s Door comes into the
final with one start under her belt and a post that will allow her to race near
the front. She raises some questions with last week’s break to the quarter but
she seemed to be working too hard to get the front—and she did recover well.
With a filly to her inside that cannot leave, “Door” may get away well and sit
a perfect trip to pull off an upset.

Ima Lula

Last year’s sophomore-filly-trot rivalry between Check Me
Out and Maven is renewed on the very day they both suffered defeats. This year
they meet in the $55,000 Ima Lula Final. Both preliminaries contained upset
winners in Real Babe and One More Ginny, making the final a much wider affair
than some may think.

Constantly, Jonas Czernyson’s other filly D’orsay (Jonas
conditions Maven) gets caught in hellish trips, mostly being parked without
cover. That occurred in leg two of the “Lula,” being covered to the quarter but
fighting on to try taking the top. Her game attempt to hold on to the lead she
cleared in the stretch increased our confidence on a sublime performance
possible here. She is peaking at a good point to get a good trip and shake the
tote board.

Lady Liberty

Anndrovette returns to the states off a Canadian record of
1:48 in her Roses Are Red victory. She comes into this race for redemption,
going off the second choice in last year’s edition and finishing in defeat
after falling victim to exasperating fractions. Another mare from last year’s
edition looks for solace in victory and has improved enough to get the job
done. From the Ron Burke barn is Rocklamation, coming off two game efforts in
the Roses Are Red elim and final.

She closed perfectly in the Roses Are Red elim, losing by ½
length in her first start off a layoff to Anndrovette. In the final, she was
used harder at three-quarters than she should have and didn’t have her usual
strong kick into the stretch. She should get off the gate moderately fast
enough to stalk the front and weave her way to the wire first.

Peter Haughton

The $280,500 Peter Haughton Final (frosh-colt trotters)
appears to be a two-horse race on paper; a rematch between elimination dazzlers
Nuncio and Father Patrick. The favorite of the two looks to be Father Patrick
but Nuncio is as equal a threat as “Pat” may ever face. Looking to Nuncio’s
debut, he defeated Father Patrick at the wire in 1:56. He dug in tremendously
in the Peter Haughton elim but was a head short. Don’t think that it will be a
Nuncio-Father Patrick exacta, though, as there are two other horses that are
absolute musts in exotics.

Southwind Spirit is the other elim winner, doing it in
first-over fashion in 1:57.3. Though it appears unimpressive compared to Pat,
he displayed endurance in that start. Most likely it won’t be as fast a mile as
it was in Pat’s elimination, allowing for upsets to be possible. Ray
Schnittker’s Derby is also a player in this field. He is making his third start
and seems to improve with each mile. He can fill in the exotic area and perhaps
pump up the price as well.

Vincennes

The $75,000 trot for elders, named after the famous
racetrack in Paris, home of the Prix d’Amerique, we have what appears to be the
most wide-open race on the card. The Vincennes Invitational Trot draws a field
of 11, with many horses having good cases to be major threats to the others.
However, Take My Picture is beginning to show positive steps in his American
return and may be a notch above the rest. Before he left for the Elitlopp, he
was dominating on the Ontario circuit. As expected, he still had some
fine-tuning to do to return to winning form off of a disappointing effort in
Sweden’s Elitlopp. He is making his third start off a layoff and could peak for
a victory at home today.

‘Cash’ Man Trotters

The top older male trotters will thump together in the
$318,350 John Cashman, Jr. Memorial, formerly the Nat Ray Stakes. The expected
favorite is last year’s Hambletonian champ, Market Share. He is the first Hambo
winner to return at four and take part in this event since the great Mack
Lobell, 25 years ago.

Market Share just beat most of these last week and was a
giant favorite coming off a qualifier that was as faster as any win time by
these foes. He won the Maple Leaf Trot and did so from the 8 hole at Mohawk.
Here he has the 9 hole but there is a lot of speed on the inside that can
configure the closing speed he can generate. But these are some powerful
players and among them may be an overlay in Mister Herbie or Wishing Stone.
Cases for them can be made in upset scenarios, with the latter probably
offering the best price and certainly they belong in exotics with Market Share,
and in that order of preference.

New Jersey Classics

The $250,000 Anthony
Abbatiello New Jersey Classic hosts the day’s glamour-boy pacers, all
state-breds. We suspected Real Rocker to show improvement with victory
in the prep last week but an odd break at the start didn’t give us the race we
wanted from him. He is up against a bigger challenge this week, with classy
horses like Word Power and Rockin Amadeus playing major roles in the
development in the race. But a good draw for Real Rocker should allow him, as
long as he minds his manners, to show us what he’s got.

There is little to say about the filly "Classic." I Luv The Nitelife has towered over her soph-filly pacing competition and the Hambo-day program should open with a fiery mile from her that could defy her own speed badge. If you are looking for exactas, back her up with Ms Caila J Fra and Ideal Ginny; both could pump up the price a tad.

U.S. Pacing Championship

Yet again, the free for all pacing division has mapped
another handicapping puzzle, this one the U.S. Pacing Championship, worth
$213,650. There looks to be four likely favorites, providing a wide-open
betting board. Though, A Rocknroll Dance may have not convinced some that he is
the real deal. As we predicted in the William Haughton elim, he has come off of
a layoff incredibly sharp, topping it off with a first-over bid to finish
third. A lot of buzz is around him but don’t expect high odds. As well, there
is one horse that plays a major danger and bettors may not see it.

Hurrikane Kingcole is a monster on certain occasions,
especially when looking back to Hambletonian day last year. He was the favorite
heading into the New Jersey Classic and used up all his energy for the first
three-quarters, going to defeat by Panther Hanover, to whom he afforded the
great opportunity of victory by burning up three panels. The “Kingcole” appears
to be dangerous when the Sun’s rays bathe an afternoon; we saw it when he
crushed A-1/free for all horses while the Sun was still up on Meadowlands Pace
night.

Most handicappers will instantly throw him out after a
perfect trip last week where he didn’t gain ground. That provides us with
greater value on a win price. Be mindful, though, that A Rocknroll Dance is peaking
at the moment and poses the biggest threat, so including both on across the
board and exotic wagers looks to be a must.

Also-Trots

Many of the soph colts that did not drop into the box for
the Hambletonian for one reason or another will headline Friday’s two Townsend
Ackerman (TA) miles at $50,000 each. The first episode features a field of 10
with all but two eligibles.

Bluto is here and remains a strong part of Team Takter but
is a second-stringer since High Bridge became hot. Here, Bluto may rule and not
as the choice, since Major Athens is looking like he will get the bulk of the
win-pool dough. On the outside, Fico could make this mile complicated, since he
has been improving and most of us thought he would drop into the Hambo box.

Originally assigned the 10 hole in the second TA, Banco Solo
scratched and dropped into the Hambo box. This leaves 10 colts, all eligibles
but for a pair. It’s tough to say how well Per Henrikson’s Exemplar can race
but this field should test his ability, which has been improving at Mohawk in
conditioned affairs. Per’s Hambo hopeful couldn’t get in the swing of it in
time to take on the top tier but he may be positioned well here and deserves
attention while he may still pay a great price. Linda Toscano’s Raven Victory
will get a lot of play and should be tough from the rail, while the third
choice with a chance and a price has to be Deadliest Catch, who shows sleek
improvement and is the freshest of them all.

On the filly side, there are two Duenna splits worth $30,000
each. These fillies didn’t make it into the “Oaks.”

Split one finds our support with Southwind Cocoa, who had a
rough time in her Oaks elim, surrounded by traffic and breakers. The crowd
should go for True Day Dream, who has been stakes placed in her last five
outings. She may rightfully be the choice but “Cocoa” may go back to her
Tioga-win form, a race where she was good enough to be backed in the Oaks.

Split two is weaker than the first and has only one filly
with a pair of victories. On the wood, Perfect Alliance comes off a dull effort
where she was close to being the choice based on keeping some tough company.
She will be overlooked for top choice again, with Silver Credit and Cupcake
getting the most attention.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Welcome to the TwinSpires Blog. Our contributors will be continually updating posts to offer commentary, insight, advice and expert opinions on horse racing and wagering. The goal is to help you win more and become a better all around horse player.

Contributors

TwinSpires' horse racing author, handicapper, and podcast host, Derek Simon of Denver, Colo. offers his insightful, humorous and sometimes controversial take on the horse racing industry. He even publishes the ROI on the picks he gives out.

The Director of Marketing for Bloodstock Research Information Services (BRIS) and a lifelong Thoroughbred racing enthusiast and astute handicapper, Ed joined Churchill Downs Inc. following nine years as a writer and editor with Thoroughbred Times.

A writer and editor who has been following horse racing for fifteen years. Peter has written books for the Daily Racing Form Press; Crown; and Simon and Schuster; among other publishers, and regular features in The Horseplayer Magazine.